EC predicts Ireland to remain fastest growing economy in EU this year
Xinhua, February 5, 2016 Adjust font size:
The European Commission (EC), the executive body of the European Union (EU), on Thursday predicted Ireland to continue to have the fastest GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate this year.
In its latest winter economic forecast, the EC predicted that Ireland's GDP will grow at 4.5 percent this year, followed closely by Romania at 4.2 percent.
Following growth of 5.2 percent in 2014, Ireland remained EU's fastest growing economy in 2015, the EC said, adding that Ireland's GDP grew by 6.9 percent last year, the highest rise in the EU.
"Ireland's record GDP growth in 2015 was broad-based and coupled with strong job creation. Economic fundamentals are robust and point to more sustainable but still strong GDP growth rates in 2016 and 2017," the EC said.
It said Ireland's government finances "are improving as strong revenue growth more than offsets increases in expenditure".
It also said that while Ireland's government debt ratio is declining, it remains very high.
According to the EC's latest winter economic forecast, Ireland's government debt is expected to drop to 98.4 percent of GDP in 2015, down from 107.5 percent in 2014. By 2017, the country's government debt is projected to fall to 91.5 percent of GDP.
However, the EC warned that the Irish economy remains vulnerable to shocks in interest rates and changes in the operations of multinational companies. Enditem